CAIRO, Jan. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- A group led by al-Qaida ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on Wednesday claimed responsibility for suicide car bombing attacks in Baghdad, in which 26 people were killed, instatements posted on the Internet.

    "A lion from the martyrdom-seeking brigade of the Al-Qaida Group of Jihad in the Land of Two Rivers carried out an attack near the Australian embassy in Baghdad, and a large number of people were injured," said the statement, whose authenticity could not be verified.

    The embassy attack was followed by a series of car bombings in Baghdad and surrounding area within 90 minutes, which also targeted a police station in eastern Baghdad and another one in central Haifa street.

    At least 26 people were killed in the suicide car bombings, which occurred less than two weeks before Iraq's Jan. 30 elections.

    Insurgents have carried out a series of deadly attacks to flex their muscles in a bid to derail the elections.

    The US government has offered a bounty of 25 million US dollarson information leading to capture or killing of Jordanian-born Zarqawi. Enditem